TOUTLE, Wash. — A volunteer firefighter nearly lost everything for his wedding when his parents' house caught fire, but a neighbor saved the day.

Garrett Foster, 20, said he was on his way to the wedding rehearsal dinner earlier this month when his beeper went off for a fire outside this southwest Washington town. Moments later a dispatcher described a "white, two-story house" — just like the one where he had been living with his parents.

"That's the worst thing I ever heard," Foster told The Daily News of Longview on Monday. "It's a firefighter's worst fear to hear their own address."

All the tuxedos, wedding rings, marriage license, presents, his mother's dress and other items were in the house when the fire started on the deck and spread to the balcony.

But a neighbor, Ron Smith, made the difference between a scare and disaster, said Foster's mother, Maribeth Foster.

Smith "broke down doors and went in to make sure nobody was inside, then got a garden hose," she said. By the time firefighters arrived, the blaze was largely contained.

"They're very lucky, otherwise it could have got inside and they could have lost everything," said Cowlitz Fire District 3 Chief Andrew Schaffran.

The cause of the fire remained under investigation.